A little worse today

Matthew has used up all of his reserves and then some. All of the surgeries and procedures he has had to go through in the last week and a half have completely wiped him out. To top it all off, they have started him on antibiotics because he is showing signs of having an infection. They started some tests on his blood and mucus from his lungs but it won't be for a day or so before something grows on the cultures that will give us a clue as to what kind of infection he has.

There are multiple parts of his lungs now that have collapsed. But the last chest x-ray showed some minor improvement. Needless to say he is still on the ventilator and he is on pretty high settings needing a lot of support. They have tried to come down on the settings but then he doesn't oxygenate himself that well and his carbon dioxide levels go up, so when they do make changes they have to go very slowly. Matthew was also retaining a lot of fluid so they gave him three doses of lasix to help him get rid of some of it. They are hoping that the loss of the extra fluid will help him breathe better. In addition, they are giving him steroids, meds to dilate the blood vessels in the lungs, meds to keep him sedated so he doesn't try to fight the ventilator and antibiotics. They are hoping that with all these things he should start feeling better in a few days.

He was supposed to have an eye exam today, but the nurse and doctor at Stanford told the eye doctor that he shouldn't do it because it would for sure push Matthew over the edge. The eye doctor agreed and is hoping to do an eye exam in the next day or so, all of this will of course depend on Matthew's condition. I am praying so hard that after the eye exam, when he finally has it, that he does not need anymore eye surgery because his eyes are fine. Matthew is at his end now and it would be very hard to have him go through another surgery so soon. But it is a fine balance because you know that if he doesn't have the surgery, he could lose his eyesight, yet at the same time, you don't want to have him undergo a surgery that could cause him to go out again.

Please keep praying that God will heal his eyes, his lungs and heal his body of this unknown infection. Please pray that he no longer needs any more surgeries of any kind. Please keep us in your prayers too. It has been exhuasting for us as well. Thank you all so very much.